Beyoncé Says She's Not Really a Feminist. We Beg to Differ.

What do Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Marissa Mayer and, now, Beyoncé have in common? For one, they are all kick-ass, uber-successful women. But they're also loathe to call themselves "feminists."

Mayer recently made a statement in a PBS documentary saying, "I don't think that I would consider myself a feminist," adding that she finds the f-word super negative. In an interview for the latest issue of British Vogue, Queen B revealed that she feels similarly about labeling herself as a "feminist."

More From Cosmopolitan

"That word can be very extreme," she said. "But I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I'm just a woman and I love being a woman."

I'm a huge Bey fan (um, how can you not be?!), but I am so confused as to why she and other awesome women are so averse to identifying with feminism. Sure, the feminist movement has been extreme at times, but the only explanation I can think of for women not wanting to self-label as feminist is that they don't know what the word actually means and just picture a bunch of crazy, hairy-legged manhaters. Why else would smart, savvy, down-with-equality women reject it?

By definition, however, feminism is actually "a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women." That doesn't sound too "extreme" to us. (Note: there's no rule mandating that self-identifying feminists must burn their bras.)

But even though everyone who believes in equal rights is pretty much a feminist, the term still carries a stigma that makes many women wary of it. (In college, I decided to get my feminism on by performing in the Vagina Monologues and some of my sorority sisters definitely gave the side eye to my I-am-woman, hear-me-scream-the-word-vagina-in-middle-of-campus antics.)

We wanna hear what you think: Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?